Kavya Muthanna leaps to a new meet record in the girls'under-16 high jump event.

KOLLAM
DEC. 21.
The record-breaking effort of Pinki Pramanik (Bengal) in the girls' under-18 400m was the most noteworthy performance on the second day of the National Junior athletic meet at the Lal Bahadur stadium here on Sunday.

Besides the creditable achievement of the Bengal athlete, who earlier in the year had represented the country in the IAAF World youth championships in Sherbrooke, Canada, the hectic day also witnessed two other meet records as well and the surfacing of the age-old controversy relating to the participation of overaged athletes in an age-group competition for the first time in this four-day event.

The debate on the true age of the participants of the boys' under-20 shot put would indeed have taken some sheen off the new meet record created by Punjab's Sukhdev Singh in the event, but that in no way did effect or diminish the fine effort by Kavya Muthanna (Karnataka) en route to a new high in the girls' under-16 high jump.

In Pinki's case itself, the date of birth provided to the organisers here only confirms that there is still a deliberate attempt by many to take advantage of the weaknesses in the mechanism to identify the exact age of a participating athlete, the various methods adopted by the AAFI to curb the menace notwithstanding.

True that the Bengal girl ran an excellent race as she erased S. Geetha's existing record of 54.92s by more than a full second, but what is surprising is her date of birth (10-4-1987) provided by the Bengal AAA to the organisers here when the same organisation had certified that Pinki was born on April 10, 1986 to the organisers of the 17th National junior meet held in Chennai last year. What again is confusing is the entry submitted by the AAFI to the IAAF for the Sherbrooke event which says Pinki was born on March 23, 1987, though it is not immediately clear on what date of birth Pinki was entered in the 18th nationals in Shimoga in January last.

Indeed, only the Bengal AAA and the AAFI would be able to put the record straight. But then, it is just an example on the little concern that the officials have in cleansing the system. Even, if it was on the lead taken by the AAFI secretary, Mr. Lalith K.Bhanot that the technical committee today decided to refer at least five participants, including Sukhdev Singh, to the Medical Committee, once the boys' under-20 shot put event was completed.

In the meanwhile, Kerala had another field day winning six more golds to add to the seven it had won on Saturday, the day also witnessing the completion of a golden double each by Uttaranchal's Pritam Bind in the boys' under-20 (1500m and 5000m) and Tamil Nadu's A. Anitcham in the girls's under-16 (shot put and discus throw) respectively.